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by John-Eric Iannicello
windsorspitfires.com
Tom Kuhnhackl scored twice and Jack Campbell turned in his best performance of the year, as the Windsor Spitfires took a decisive 4-1 decision over the Belleville Bulls Thursday night at the WFCU Centre.
Kuhnhackl got the Spitfires (6-5-0-1) rolling early in the game, finishing off a nice feed from Alexander Khoklachev at 1:51 of the first period.
Eric Locke gave the Spits a two-goal lead later in the frame. Initially credited to Zack Kassian, Locke’s wrist shot deflected off a Belleville defender in front of the net and past Tyson Teichmann, at 11:04, to make it 2-0 Windsor.
Campbell's strong play kept Belleville off the board. And the Spitfires headed into the intermission up 2-0, despite being out-shot 14-9.
Kuhnhackl found the net again, for his fourth goal of the season, on an early power play in the second period. His bullet wrist shot beat Teichmann upstairs at 3:09, to give the Spitfires a comfortable 3-0 edge.
Again, Campbell made several big saves in the period, and stopped all 25 shots he faced through 40 minutes.
The third period was uneventful, until the Spitfires extended their lead to four goals. Zack Kassian found Alexander Khokhlachev in front of the net, and the smooth forward made no mistake, putting away his seventh goal of the year.
Unfortunately, Campbell’s shutout bid came to an end moments later, as Michael Curtis slid a puck home with just 2:58 to play.
NOTES
Jack Campbell faced 31 shots and turned aside 30 in arguably his best start of the season...The Spitfires threw 36 shots at Teichmann in the Bulls net... The Spitfires were 1-for-5 on the power play... Belleville went 0-for-6 with the man advantage... Eric Locke extended his point streak to four games with his first period goal... Locke was named Spitfires Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday, October 17... Kenny Ryan led the Spitfires with four blocked shots, and earned praise from Campbell after the game for his outstanding defensive efforts ... Ryan Ellis dropped the mitts with Curtis, who caught Campbell with a high-stick late in the second period...Zack Kassian and Ryan Ellis were named to the OHL roster for the Subway Super Series (November 11 in London) earlier today... Spitfire scratches include Nick Czinder, Grant Webermin, Troy Passingham and Cam Fowler, who is still with the Anaheim Ducks. Attendance at tonight’s game was 6,020
THREE STARS
1. WSR – 1 Jack Campbell
2. WSR – 14 Tom Kuhnhackl
3. WSR – 26 Kenny Ryan
